The 2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, led by third-year head coach Butch Jones, played their home games at Nippert Stadium. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 5–2 in Big East play to place in a four-way tie for the conference championship. Along with Rutgers, Louisville, and Syracuse, the Bearcats were the final football champions of the Big East Conference, as the league's original incarnation folded following the loss of the three former programs and others to different conferences. Cincinnati became a charter member of the American Athletic Conference the following season.

The 2012 Cincinnati team was invited to the Belk Bowl where they defeated Duke. At the end of the regular season, Jones resigned to take the same head coaching position at Tennessee. Defensive line coach Steve Stripling was named the interim head coach for the Belk Bowl.

Schedule

Game summaries Pittsburgh

Delaware State

Virginia Tech

Miami (OH)

Fordham

@ Toledo

@ Louisville

Syracuse

@ Temple

Rutgers

South Florida

@ Connecticut

Duke–Belk Bowl

The Bearcats made their first ever appearance in the Belk Bowl and their first ever meeting with Duke. The Blue Devils raced out to an early 16–0 lead in the first quarter after a punt was blocked and recovered for a touchdown. The Bearcats then scored 27 unanswered points capped off by a 46-yard touchdown run by George Winn. The Blue Devils then scored back to back touchdowns to take a 31–27 lead. The Bearcats retook the lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Kay to Chris Moore. The Blue Devils then tied the game with a 52-yard field goal and the game seemed headed to overtime. With under a minute to play TE Travis Kelce took a short pass from Kay and broke several would be tackles in racing 83 yards for the winning score. Insult was added to injury when Nick Temple stripped the ball from Duke QB Sean Renfree and dashed 55 yards with the stolen loaf for a score as time expired. The 48 points is the most points scored by the Bearcats in a bowl game, and would be their largest margin of victory in a bowl game since 1997. This also gave the Bearcats their first consecutive bowl wins since 1946–47. The win gave the Bearcats their 4th 10-win season in the past five years.

Roster 2012 Cincinnati BearcatsRunning backs 1 Ralph David Abernathy IV – Sophomore 22 Jameel Poteat – Freshman 23 Tion Green – Freshman 25 Rob Rice – Freshman 31 Deionte Buckley – Freshman 32 George Winn – Senior 38 Adam Fearing – Senior 49 Anthony King – Junior

Wide receivers 2 Dyjuan Lewis – Sophomore 3 Braxton Lane – Freshman 6 Anthony McClung – Junior 7 Kenbrell Thompkins – Senior 15 Chris Moore – Sophomore 16 Damon Julian – Senior 19 Shaq Washington – Freshman 20 Leviticus Payne – Freshman 24 Chris Burrell – Sophomore 80 Alex Chisum – Sophomore 82 Max Morrison – Freshman 83 Danny Milligan – Senior 84 Nate Cole – Freshman 85 Bruce Horner – Senior 87 Jacob Giltrow – Freshman 87 Jeremy Graves – Freshman 88 Shakim Alonzo – Freshman

Offensive linemen 59 Deyshawn Bond – Freshman 60 Sam Longo – Junior 62 Cory Keebler – Sophomore 63 Dan Sprague – Junior 66 Sean McClellan – Junior 68 Daniel Murray – Freshman 69 Dominic Mainello – Sophomore 71 Eric Lefeld – Sophomore 73 Ryan Leahy – Freshman 74 Justin Murray – Freshman 75 Kevin Schloemer – Sophomore 76 Austen Bujnoch – Junior 77 Sean Hooey – Senior 78 Parker Ehinger – Freshman 79 Andre Cureton – Junior Quarterbacks 4 Munchie Legaux – Junior 9 Patick Coyne – Freshman 10 Bennie Coney – Freshman 11 Brendon Kay – Senior 12 Trenton Norvell – Freshman

Tight ends 18 Travis Kelce – Senior 35 Josh Russ – Sophomore 46 Jared Golden – Freshman 48 Matt Staubachh – Freshman 81 DJ Dowdy – Freshman 86 Blake Annen – Junior 86 Demetrius Richardson – Senior

Defensive linemen 46 Mitch Meador – Junior 50 Alex Pace – Freshman 52 Elijah Shuler – Junior 54 Walter Stewart – Junior 55 Roney Lozano – Sophomore 57 Carroll Phillips – Freshman 58 Brandon Mills – Senior 65 Connor Donnini – Freshman 67 John Williams – Senior 70 Brandon Mitchell – Freshman 90 Camaron Beard – Sophomore 91 Adam Dempsey – Sophomore 92 Silverberry Mouhon – Freshman 93 Brad Harrah – Sophomore 94 Jordan Stepp – Junior 95 Jonathan Burt – Freshman 96 Josh Posley – Freshman 97 Chad Hannah – Freshman 98 Chad West – Freshman 99 Dan Giordano – Senior

Defensive backs 2 Trenier Orr – Freshman 8 Adrian Witty – Sophomore 9 Dominique Battle – Senior 11 Deven Drane – Junior 13 Pat Lambert – Senior 17 Malcolm Murray – Senior 20 Chris Williams – Senior 21 Camerron Cheatham – Senior 25 Arryn Chenault – Junior 26 Drew Frey – Senior 27 Drake Bruns – Freshman 29 Andre Jones – Freshman 30 Aaron Roberson – Senior 35 Dylan Coombs – Freshman 36 Marcus Foster – Freshman 39 Demitri Beal – Sophomore 40 Kevin Brown – Freshman 48 Breon Mapp – Junior Linebackers 4 Maalik Bomar – Senior 10 Jordan Luallen – Junior 33 Solomon Tentman – Sophomore 37 Joey Jones – Freshman 38 Mason Antoun – Freshman 41 Kevin Hyland – Freshman 42 Corey Griffin – Freshman 43 Nick Temple – Sophomore 44 Corey Mason – Sophomore 45 Ey'Shawn McClain – Freshman 46 Devin Bruns – Freshman 47 Colin Lozier – Senior 48 Jeff Luc – Junior 50 Innocent Macha – Sophomore 51 Greg Blair – Senior 53 Franklin Bruscianelli – Freshman 57 Clemente Casseus – Freshman

Special teams 14 Tony Miliano – Sophomore (K) 61 Kirk Willis – Freshman (LS) 24 John Lloyd – Sophomore (P) 34 Pat O'Donnell – Junior (P) 35 Eric Ernst – Freshman (P)

Head coach Butch Jones

Assistant coaches Steve Stripling – Asst HC/co-defensive Coord/DL Mike Bajakian – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mark Elder – Special teams coordinator/safeties John Jancek – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Don Mahoney – Offensive line Coach Shannon Morrison – Cornerbacks coach T. J. Weist – Wide receivers Coach/recruiting coordinator Dave Johnson – Tight ends coach Dave Lawson – Asst. AD/Sports Performance Roy Manning – Running backs coach Mike Szerszen – Director of Football Strength and Conditioning

Depth chart

Awards and milestones

Big East Conference honors

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

George Winn, RB Travis Kelce, TE Eric Lefeld, OL

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

Austen Bujnoch, OL

Dan Giordano, DL Greg Blair, LB Pat O'Donnell, P

Big East Conference All-Conference Third Team

Ralph David Abernathy IV, KR

Walter Stewart, DL Maalik Bomar, LB Drew Frey, DB Anthony McClung, PR

Rankings

Players in the 2013 NFL draft

Travis Kelce TE 3 63 Kansas City Chiefs

References